Add Spice to Your Life' at Plymouth Community Center workshop

Most people who cook — or, for that matter, eat — understand that spices ramp up flavor and add depth to food. Many also believe — as contemporary research suggests — that spices can also curb hunger, strengthen muscles, help fight disease, boost brainpower, improve mood and affect a whole host of health-related conditions.

Philadelphia-based culinary pro and teacher Diane Floyd will share her thoughts on these issues as well as tips for selecting, using and storing spices during a Feb. 7 “Add Spice to Your Life” workshop at Greater Plymouth Community Center. The 6:30 to 8 p.m. session is open to the public and costs $35 for Plymouth residents, $43 for nonresidents.

Floyd, chef/owner of Meal Makers Inc., brings a wealth of hands-on experience to her classes — experience that began with a post-Dobbins High School job “flipping burgers” at Gino’s, progressed to a cook’s post with Stouffer’s and coalesced in an American Culinary Federation apprenticeship program. The latter allowed her to work with several professional chefs and culminated with a stint as sous chef at the former Lily’s restaurant in Old City’s New Market.

Along the way, Floyd earned an associate’s degree in culinary arts at Bucks County Community College and a bachelor’s degree in organizational management at Eastern University.

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Her cooking savvy has also been shaped by years of catering and teaching. But in the end, she maintains, anyone — regardless of kitchen I.Q. — can learn how to flavor with spices and herbs.

“As a personal chef, I’ve found there are a lot of people who just don’t think to season their food or don’t know how to season beyond picking up a salt shaker,” Floyd says. “The body needs salt, but people tend to eat way more salt than they need. Some people salt their food before they even taste it.”

She says she believes “opening your mind to” spices and herbs goes a long way toward “allowing your taste buds to experience food” more authentically.

“They say that with a truly excellent dish, you taste all the various elements of that dish as they come together … as they blend,” Floyd continues. “A lot of people don’t know how to blend seasonings. Take cumin, one of my favorite spices. Cumin can be blended with many other spices. It mixes well in Indian food, Mexican food and Middle Eastern food. It has medicinal properties, too. For example, it’s good for carpal tunnel, indigestion, diarrhea … and for stimulating or sharpening the appetite.

“Chili is another versatile spice. Combining different chilies — I like to use ancho chili, pasilla chili and chipotle chili — adds dimension to a dish. And … if it’s too hot for you, just add a little dark chocolate or bittersweet chocolate to mellow it out. That helps enhance the flavor, too.”

Cinnamon is another winner, Floyd says.

“Most people seem to enjoy the taste of cinnamon, which actually comes from the bark of a tree, but some studies have found it also helps lower blood sugar,” she adds. “Sniffing a bit of cinnamon supposedly increases brain activity, too. It’s also thought to help fight infections and inflammation and do a lot of other good things as well.

“Ancient people used cinnamon for incense and perfumes, and you can make your house smell wonderful by simmering a cinnamon stick or two and some apple peels in some water on the stove. You can also make a nice mouthwash by combining cinnamon, honey, cloves and a little lemon juice in water.”

Not surprisingly, Floyd would rather see people spice their food than pop a cinnamon or garlic capsule as part of a daily vitamin regimen.

“There’s just something about preparing a meal and sitting down together,” she says. “I tell people all the time … it’s not just eating together. It’s cooking together, instead of making one person responsible for the meal … whether you’re talking couples, a group of girlfriends getting together … it’s fun, and it doesn’t take that long, either.”

“My grandmother was from Georgia, and one of my earliest memories is helping her make fried apple pies,” Floyd says. “I don’t bake that much, but I make them occasionally, and I can still picture us in the kitchen. I remember the smells … the pots on the stove … the yellow top on the kitchen table. And my grandmother just standing there talking to us, me and my older sister Janice.

“You didn’t know it, but you were learning values and skills. And it was fun. My grandmother passed when she was 90, but my mom is still alive. She’s 80 years old, and she has Alzheimer’s. Now, I’m her caretaker, but I see that as a blessing. I’m happy that I can give something back to her after everything she gave me … and taught me.”

Additional information about Floyd’s Add Spice to Your Life workshop — including registration details — is available by calling 610-277-4312, visiting www.plymouthcommunitycenter.org or at GPCC, 2910 Jolly Road, Plymouth Meeting.